Even after spending 4 months in Korea, eating everything I humanly could, there was still some dishes I missed and discovered once back in France.
Bossam is one of those. I love how Koreans wrap their meats, both because of the textures and tastes combination aaand, mostly, because it’s so comfy. I don’t know why. If everything was eaten wrapped in lovely small bites, with one large platter everyone shares, I bet people would be happy all the time. Well, I’d be.
The most traditional Bossam version is quite time-consuming and involves making pickled cabbage leaves as well as a specific kimchi kind. I simplified it here ; if you’ve already made some Kimchi, or if you’ve bought some along with Ssamjang, you just have to boil your pork in a simple broth and make some rice. Easy peasy !
Contrary to what one might think looking at the broth’s color, its flavours are quite delicate : one must be into pork belly’s texture and taste to enjoy this Bossam -if not, you can opt for pork shoulder. The acidic kimchi counteracts the fattiness of the pork, and the salad leaves offer some pleasant texture and freshness.
Easy Bossam – Recipe
Ingredients – Advice & key points
- Fair warning about pork belly :
- This dish is usually eaten skin-on, but I know some people would be uncomfortable with it. If in doubt, kindly ask your butcher to remove the pork belly’s skin.
- If you’re not sure you’d like large pork belly bits in terms of taste and texture, choose pork shoulder instead ;
- To check whether you meat is tender enough after one hour, simply poke a chopstick through it. If it goes through easily, it means it’s cooked.
- You should easily be able to find Doenjang and Ssamjang at your usual Asian grocery store if it’s large enough ; you will definitely find some in any Korean store, as those pastes are national staples.
- If you have Bossam leftovers, you can make a great many deal of new meals out of it, using the delicious cooking liquid, too ! I made a pork belly, kimchi and scallions fried rice ; and quick stir-fried noodles with pork belly using rice noodles, that soaked all the beautiful broth.
How to eat your Easy Bossam
- The traditional way would be to wrap your pork in lettuce leaves, with some rice, Ssamjang and a bit of kimchi !
- Simply want a quick lunch and not a nice sharing meal ? Make Bossam bowls, using all the aforementioned ingredients !
Let’s dig into it !
Easy Bossam
Ingredients
For the meat
Instructions
-
Prepare your veggies !
Peel & halve your onion.
Peel your garlic cloves.
Peel & slice your ginger.
Separate the white part of the scallions from the green one.
-
Start your broth
Place all your meat ingredients, except the meat, in a medium/large pot.
Bring it to a boil.
Meanwhile, slice your pork belly lengthwise in quite wide slices (6-7cm ; see video).
When the broth boils, add your pork belly slices.
Let it boil around 1h.
-
Let it cool
Check whether your pork is cooked by poking a chopstick through it ; if it goes through easily, turn off the heat.
Let the pork cool in the broth at least 30 minutes to 1h.
Leaving the pork in the broth prevents it from drying. -
Slice and serve !
When the pork is cool enough to handle, take it out of the broth. Pat dry with a paper towel.
Slice it in quite thin bits (1cm thick).
Assemble in a platter. Serve with white rice, kimchi, ssamjang, and salad leaves (and/or perilla leaves).
Et voilà !! You're done !